The development of nanoscale manufacturing and nanomaterials engineering has led to a recent surge of interest in thermoacoustic sound production. Such method of sound production have emerged in the field of nanotechnology as one of the most accessible techniques for active nanoscale signal transduction. Thermoacoustic transduction provides a mechanism for sound generation that is done without mechanical vibration and that operates at size scales as small as a single nanotube. Thermoacoustic loudspeakers, also known as thermophones, have been demonstrated using materials such as porous silicon (Si), carbon nanotube thin films (CNTs), nanowire arrays, and graphene. Unfortunately, to date reported thermoacoustic devices present challenges in manufacturing due to the use of specialized materials with high fabrication temperatures, such as carbon nanotubes or graphene, which typically require synthesis at temperatures above 600° C.
There is thus a need in the art for novel thermal and/or thermoacoustic nanodevices and methods of fabricating and using the same. Such nanodevices should be easily fabricated, using technology that allows for low temperature synthesis protocols and atomic precision control. The present invention meets this need.